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State Police & MEMA To Partner With Nextdoor, The Neighborhood Social Network

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) announced this week a partnership with Nextdoor (nextdoor.com), the private social network for neighborhoods, to improve statewide and neighbor-to-neighbor communications. This partnership makes Massachusetts the first state in the country to have both its state police and emergency management on Nextdoor.

Over the past few months, the Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency have been using Nextdoor to build stronger, safer, and more prepared communities with the help of Massachusetts residents. With a positive initial response from Massachusetts neighbors, the agencies are now encouraging more residents to come on board. On Nextdoor, the State Police and MEMA are able to work directly with Nextdoor neighborhoods to increase safety and strengthen virtual neighborhood watch.

“We strive to communicate with the citizens we serve through a variety of methods, including reaching out to them in a variety of social media forums,” said Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police. “We need to reach people where they live their lives, and our social media platforms, including this one, allow us to provide important public safety information directly to our communities.”

Nextdoor has proven to be an essential and well-adopted tool for Massachusetts residents. More than 2,400 Massachusetts neighborhoods are connected on Nextdoor.

“Having the ability to easily communicate with residents is vital to increasing preparedness and resiliency within our Massachusetts communities,” said MEMA Director Kurt Schwartz. “With Nextdoor, we can send information directly into neighborhoods, which allows us to provide residents important preparedness and emergency information.”

With Nextdoor, Massachusetts residents can create private neighborhood websites to share information, including neighborhood public safety issues, community events and activities, local services, and even lost pets. The Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency can post information, such as important news, services, programs, free events, and emergency notifications to Nextdoor neighborhoods within the state.

Nextdoor is free for residents, the Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Each Massachusetts neighborhood has its own private Nextdoor neighborhood website, accessible only to residents of that neighborhood. Neighborhoods establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor website and the State Police and MEMA cannot access residents’ websites, contact information, or content. All members must verify that they live within the neighborhood before joining Nextdoor. Information shared on Nextdoor is password protected and cannot be accessed by Google or other search engines.

The Massachusetts State Police and MEMA join over 2,800 public agencies across the country who are using Nextdoor for Public Agencies to build stronger relationships with their residents.

Those interested in joining their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website can visit nextdoor.com and enter their address. Agencies interested in connecting with residents on Nextdoor can visit nextdoor.com/agency.

(NOTE: The above press release is from the Massachusetts State Police.)